74 THE UNIVERSITY AND WOMEN’S WORK 
towards supplying in schools some rudimentary knowledge of 
the domestic arts and the simple laws of hygiene. No one, 
I think, will contend that a solution of the difficulty is to be 
found here in general education in the three R’s, and it is in 
supplying special teachers for children in elementary schools 
that schools of domestic economy have found their chief work. 
When we pass from the poorer classes to the more fortunate 
sections of the community it is not so easy to disclose the 
ignorance that prevails or trace its consequences. Of its 
existence and of its far-reaching effect on the well-being of the 
nation I have not a shadow of doubt. The subject is not an 
easy or a pleasant one to talk about, and it will probably be 
most prudent if I do not enlarge upon it. I can only say 
that it astonishes me more and more as my experience of 
life increases, to see how complacently people endure in their 
homes the inconveniences, the perils, and even the tragedies of 
life that accrue not from faults of the heart, but from crass 
ignorance—ignorance that would have been remedied long ago 
if we had not got our ideas of education so absurdly out of 
focus with the things that matter most. It is, I am sure, not 
extravagant to say that there is no sphere of human activity 
where the responsibilities are greater, the issues more vital, 
and where, accordingly, we are more bound to bring all the 
resources that intellect can supply. By so doing we may 
hope to strengthen the power of right thinking and right 
doing, to emancipate people from the rule of thumb and of 
recipe, the spurious traditions and the mischievous credulity, 
that have gained such an extraordinary sway in the domestic 
world, and to bring about an economy of life, labour, time, and 
money. 
I believe there was never more need than now for most 
earnest attention being given to this business of administering 
a home and of making it one that may appeal to the intellect 
as well as the heart. A highly educated woman surely need 
